Wood Choice on TS Instruments

[docmacnab]

Just curious. We drummers love gear (well, the normal ones do) and wood type is a big deal to us. Maple and birch are our favorites, mostly. And mahogany is an older favorite. Resonance is a big factor for wood choice.

So I am wondering about your instruments. Megatars, Sticks, Warrs and the like. What are yours made from? And why the wood choices used?

[rjgoos]

The subject of wood and tone is one that has been discussed often (here and elsewhere).

One school of thought is that wood choice is very important, another school of thought is that (for low-string-tension instruments) wood choice is a minor consideration, compared to pickups, etc.

Just as some say "red wine for beef, white wine for fish", some say that lighter-color woods have brighter tones, darker woods have darker tones. That could well be true, I personally haven't compared enough instruments to know.

[lwclaypool]

I have two tapping instruments now and one on order. I'll describe each of the three:

1) Austin Douglas 8 - swamp ash body, maple neck, pau ferro fingerboard - very Fender-ish sound, especially with passive electronics

2) Warr Artist 10 - swamp ash, purple heart, and quilted maple body, maple neck with wenge pin stripes, two mahogany strips, and a pau ferro fingerboard - still a Fender-ish, but different with the active electronics

3) Warr Artist 8 - on order for November delivery - the body will be mahogany with a thin walnut laminate and a figured maple top, the five laminate bolt-on neck will have maple mains, two strips of mahogany, and a middle strip of walnut with a pau ferro fingerboard - the design consideration is for a tapping instrument more in line with the tonal qualities of a Paul Reed Smith guitar.

Pictures and detailed descriptions of the first two instruments, and the rest of my guitars, are available in the gear page on my website at lorenclaypool.com (http://www.lorenclaypool.com). The first two instruments were used extensively on my new CD One Feather Shy, available in the online store at the website.